The Walking Dead lent a hand towards creating a TV equivalent to Rick Grimes‘ physical appearance in Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard‘s comic series on Sunday night.
Spoilers for The Walking Dead Episode 9×02 follow! Major spoilers!
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While the survivors were trying to compile a significant cache of wood for construction such as the bridge they are all working on right now, a herd of walkers was not redirected as planned. As a result, the walking dead came storming towards the group of workers, prompting Jed to cower and drop an entire log on Alexandria native Aaron’s arm. Shortly thereafter, Enid was forced to amputate the damaged limb in an effort to save his life. With Aaron moving forward with a buzzcut, beard, and missing hand he has taken a significant step toward resembling Rick Grimes of the comics.
“When Angela [Kang] presented the idea to me at the beginning of the season, I thought it was fantastic,” Aaron actor Ross Marquand told ComicBook.com (as seen in the video above). “I love the idea of having the extra challenge. As a character, losing an arm is a significant one. It’s been interesting because I’ve been tying my arm up behind my back because I’ve been trying to get in the habit of not using it. Not all the time, of course, but when I’m at home and when I can get away with using one hand, I just try to keep it immobile. It’s been great because you realize that the biggest thing that comes with that is, obviously the sadness of losing a limb, but also the frustration of it. There’s this immense frustration of not being able to do the things you do. I’ve talked to a few people who have lost limbs and that’s the thing that keeps coming back is just this frustration.”
In the comics, Rick Grimes lost his hand long before any encounter with Negan had come and gone. In fact, The Walking Dead TV series is at a story point nearly equivalent to issue #127. Rick Grimes lost his hand in issue #28, nearly 100 issues earlier.
“You know, I campaigned two seasons ago when the Governor was around… I was saying, ‘You’ve gotta do the hand guys!’ And Victor, who was in charge of special effects, just said, ‘No, no no no. Anybody else but not you. It’ll cost a fortune with green screen and blue screen,’” Rick actor Andrew Lincoln told ComicBook.com in 2015. “But you know, I’m of the opinion that certainly with where the story seems to be going this season, no one is safe of any long term damage. It’s an extraordinary season because it’s very intense and insular for the first few and then we lift our eyes up and it feels like there’s a whole new horizon out there and it feels like it’s very thrilling but also it’s very dangerous.”
Do you think Aaron is on his way towards becoming the new Rick Grimes as Lincoln is primed to exit the AMC series in its current season? Share your thoughts in the comment section!
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. Fear the Walking Dead returns for its fifth season in 2019. For more updates and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter!
